


Learning to be Stronger Together

by FlyingPigPoet



Series: There Oughta Be a Superhero Handbook [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M, LuthorCorp is moving to National City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-12 21:46:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11170704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingPigPoet/pseuds/FlyingPigPoet
Summary: Season One early episodes with extra scenes and points of view.





	1. Shifting Scenarios

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is all of this really necessary?" asked Supergirl. "I'm ready, Alex, for all of it. I can DO this."
> 
> Alex said, "You know, believe it or not, Hank's just looking out for you. We both are. Kara, I had a full year of training before he even let me out in the field. Agent Vasquez here kicked my ass on a daily basis for months."
> 
> Vasquez grinned. "I did. I taught her everything she knows. Power's not enough, Supergirl. Power at a point, at the right point. Breaking a bone isn't just force. It's also torque. You have to know where the weakness is so you can put the force where it will do the most damage. And now your sister will pass on all of my wisdom and badassery to you, Supergirl."

Agent Susan Vasquez stood in the DEO copy room, feeding page after page of documents into the shredder. Of all the scenarios she had posited for how Kara Zor-El could come to be recognized as an alien by the public, most had featured the young woman becoming angry and snapping, accidentally showing humans her super strength. One had featured either a natural disaster or a rogue alien. None of them had included danger to Alex Danvers.

In retrospect, of course, it was obvious, and she made a mental note to rely less on unintentional stereotyping of a group she perceived a subject to be part of and more on personal observation of the subject from now on. It had been a rookie mistake. She had been sloppy to accept Director Henshaw's prohibition on meeting Kara in person. His reasoning had been logical, yes, but watching the Danvers sisters interacting with each other, whether they were fighting or forgiving, Vasquez realized that possibly the most obvious way Kara would have allowed herself to be called out was danger to Alex.

So Vasquez shredded a two-inch thick folder of risk assessment scenarios about Kara and started from scratch. The single-page memo that she delivered to Henshaw recommended testing and training. If Supergirl insisted on helping National City, the DEO was going to end up being involved. Once the crest of the House of El started appearing in the news, the escapees from Fort Rozz were going to start coming out of the woodwork. The more the DEO knew about Supergirl's powers--her speed, strength, agility--the more they could help her develop her fighting and strategizing abilities, compensate for her weaknesses, make the most of her strengths.

This time when the memo came back to Vasquez's desk, the only thing that was marked in red was the small word in all capital letters: AGREED.

//

Outside in the desert, Supergirl and Henshaw were going head to head. Again. Supergirl was arguing nature (and a cape); Henshaw was arguing nurture (and rules). Vasquez listened to the argument through her earpiece as she set up the tactical computers under the tent.

Henshaw followed Supergirl's progress through binoculars. "Is that the fastest you can go, Ms. Danvers?"

"Are these tests mandatory for everyone or is it just because I'm a--?"

"It's not because you're a woman," said Henshaw.

"I was going to say alien."

"A novice superhero can be a liability in the field. I need to know that you're in complete control of your powers: strength, stamina, speed. If you have speed."

Kara pushed herself and the glass of the equation board shattered.

Alex grinned. "My sister just broke the sound barrier, sir!"

Vasquez intervened. "Supergirl, the DEO requires rigorous physical and psychological training for all its prospective field agents. If you're going to be a field agent, you have to go through the kind of training that your sister and I both went through. Plus, this extra training for your... less standard fieldwork."

"I'm going to be a field agent! Okay, fire again!"

The next pair of rockets chased Supergirl through the sky and she simply went up and they blew each other up. She landed, red cape streaming in the wind behind her.

"So," she said to Henshaw. "Did I pass?"

He snorted. "I see you share your cousin's penchant for wanton destruction, Ms. Danvers."

"You know, I am starting to answer to Supergirl." He rolled his eyes. She backed down. "It's cool. We'll find our thing."

She pulled Alex away from him. Vasquez followed.

"Is all of this really necessary? I'm ready, Alex, for all of it. I can DO this."

Alex said, "You know, believe it or not, he's just looking out for you. We both are. Kara, I had a full year of training before he even let me out in the field. You see Agent Vasquez here? She kicked my ass on a daily basis for months."

Vasquez grinned. "I did. I taught her everything she knows. Power's not enough, Supergirl. Power at a point, at the right point. Breaking a bone isn't just force. It's also torque. You have to know where the weakness is so you can put the force where it will do the most damage. And now your sister will pass on all of my wisdom and badassery to you, Supergirl."

Vasquez turned back to her computer, but she overheard Kara whisper to her sister, "Did she just call me Supergirl? Even though he won't?"

"Yeah, Vasquez is cool. She believes in letting people name themselves. Oh, Kara, I am really glad that we get to do this together now. I hated keeping this whole part of my life from you."

"Yeah, growing up I always thought you were a terrible liar."

"That's what a good liar makes you think."

Winn's voice sounded in Kara's ear. "Supergirl, there's a fire at the port. It looks really bad."

"Okay, I'm on my way!"

"Kara," said Alex. "You've been dodging missiles for the last two hours. Even you have your limits."

"Alex, for the last twelve years, I hit who I was. I don't have to anymore. I don't want to waste a minute of it. Besides, this sounds like a job for Supergirl!"

She took off, leaving Alex shaking her head.

Vasquez said, "I think we're going to need to bring protein bars to every training session. Ivan just calculated how many calories she burns up while flying at her normal cruising speed. It's astronomical."

They packed up the gear and headed back to the base. When they got there, the agent manning the command center told them the bad news about the oil spill Supergirl caused why trying to get the tanker ship away from the port fire. They watched Maxwell Lord's rant about Supergirl being a menace to National City, the same way that Superman brought a supervillain war to be waged in Metropolis.

Alex Danvers growled in the back of her throat. Henshaw pointed out, "He's not wrong. If we can't get your sister up to speed fast, Agent Danvers, we are going to have problems. Because the DEO exists to thwart alien menaces, and right now, she is starting to look like an alien menace."


	2. Changing Perspectives

James Olsen was starting to notice a pattern. Every week he found himself standing in Cat Grant's office, to the left of Kara in order to stand behind Supergirl. Last week he had tried to protect her anonymity while inspiring her heroism. This week he was struggling to defend her good intentions. And when Cat asked James to get Superman's help in getting an interview with Supergirl, he found himself struggling to not exploit his friend for work.

It hardly mattered. Kara refused to do the interview, arguing that Cat would recognize her instantly. 

He told her she was wrong. "Cat won't see you then because she can't see you now. She barely looks at you or anybody except when she's staring them down. Besides, she's too cynical. I saw it with your cousin for years. Nobody believes that there could possibly be a superhero in their midst."

Kara slumped. "I don't know. Maybe I put the S on too soon."

Gently, James turned her away from him. "Look out the window. What you do you see?"

"Buildings? Billboards. That bar where that guy always cards me all the time. He knows how old I am."

"I see a city full of people who need help. Who need a hero."

She turned back to face him. "You really think so?"

"If anybody can fill Superman's boots, it's you."

They stood looking into each other's eyes, until Kara suddenly stepped back and moved to the door of his office. "That was a really good pep talk. Excellent use of pep. Really good!"

And as James watched her hurry back to her desk it occurred to him that if Cat actually fired him for not getting her the exclusive with Supergirl, he would no longer be on site at CatCo to work with Kara anymore or to protect her.


	3. Keeping an Eye Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because you know that Lena and Jess were mad at work in Season One, just behind the scenes in Metropolis, right?

Jess Huang strode into LuthorCorp in Metropolis half an hour later than usual. Her boss, Lena Luthor, now the CEO, was in Tokyo for a series of meetings with investors and suppliers, trying to convince them that the changes at LuthorCorp were not a crisis but an opportunity, a chance to shift away from high-risk defense technology to environmental solutions that would save the planet while also creating jobs in both the US and Japan. She had worked with her Japanese translator for weeks on how to nuance her word choices, to pitch Lex as a frightened risk evader and herself as a brave warrior.

Jess had stayed out of that part of the preparations for the trip, instead gathering the financials, setting up Lena's travel and accommodations, and making sure she knew how to hold the fort while Lena was gone.

Part of that last task included keeping tabs on the business situation in National City, making sure the purchase of the site for the new headquarters went through without a hitch, preparing HR to help employees move with the company.

So when the Daily Planet started to feature stories about the mysterious flying woman who had suddenly appeared in National City, first saving an airplane and then destroying a homicidal alien, Jess had bought copies of the newspaper and stacked them on the corner of Lena's desk, next to her mail.

But then the woman had started wearing the S, and the National City Tribune started calling her Supergirl.

And Jess had thought to herself, Oh, just freaking great.


	4. Starting from Scratch

After Kara came out to the world, Alex's first feeling, once the relief of surviving the plane crash had faded, was fear: fear for Kara's safety, fear of the Fort Rozz escapees, fear that this time Alex wouldn't be able to protect her little sister from herself and others. So she had freaked out and gone on attack mode, giving Kara the old lessons they had learned from Eliza and Jeremiah: conceal, don't let people know what you are.

But then Alex had stepped into the copy room at the DEO and found Vasquez patiently shredding easily a hundred pages of threat assessment scenarios, some of them handwritten in Vasquez's meticulous printing.

"What are you doing?"

One eyebrow went up. "Getting rid of outdated ideas."

Alex glanced down at the folder, marked Zor-El, Kara. "But you've been working on this for two? three years?"

"And my work was based on insufficient data and unexamined assumptions. So it's useless. Time to begin again, start from scratch."

Alex stared. "You must feel awful."

Vasquez blinked. "No... I feel... free. I'm no longer held back by my old thinking."

And that was how Alex found herself out in the desert, studying the speed and thrust equations only to watch the glass board shatter, and she crowed because her little sister had just broken the sound barrier.

And some other barrier, deep inside of Alex, had also cracked just a little.

So when the DEO got the alarm on the overnight attack at Plastino Chemicals, Alex had called in Supergirl to help. It was not a universally popular decision.

"What's she doing here?" growled Henshaw.

"I called her in. We hunt aliens. She's an alien. It's a resource we didn't have before."

Henshaw frowned at the woman in the cape. "Just don't cause any oil spills."

Supergirl turned to Alex. "What can I do to help?"

"Look around. Don't touch anything."

Henshaw pointed to his tablet. "Alex, this whole facility specializes in chemical manufacturing. Sodium hypochloride? Ammonium nitrate?"

"Ingredients for a chemical bomb?"

"Yeah. We have to find this alien fast."

When they got back to the DEO, their evidence specialists delivered the evidence they had gathered to Alex's lab. Kara strode in, looked over Alex's shoulder at the spike on her lab bench and paled.

"You're looking for a Helgramite," she said. "That stinger you pulled out, I've seen it before on Krypton. My mother sent at least one of their kind to Fort Rozz."

Alex checked the databanks. "Records from the data we salvaged from Fort Rozz say there was a Helgramite prisoner."

Henshaw asked, "What do we know about the species?"

"Not much." Alex punched code into the computer and the monitors on the wall before them showed one picture of a seeming humanoid/insectoid hybrid.

Supergirl said, "It's basically a large insect, but he can camouflage himself to take on any shape, humanoid included."

"An insect trying to steal bomb-grade chemical compounds. This job never ceases to surprise."

"You guys track him down," said Supergirl assertively, "and I'll take him out. Just like we did with Vartox."

"Sure thing, Ms. Danvers," said Henshaw, again with the snark. "If you can prove to us that you can handle yourself without getting yourself killed."

Supergirl started to protest, but Vasquez took her by one arm and Alex took her by the other and they led her down to the training rooms. Alex slipped into the locker room, while Vasquez showed Supergirl the facilities--the weight rooms, the obstacle room, and last, just as Alex came in wearing sweats and sneakers, the Green Room.

"Why is it called the Green Room?" asked Kara. "It's like the rest of this place, sort of battleship grey."

"Wait for it..." murmured Vasquez.

Kara looked annoyed at not getting answers. She shifted her question to her sister. "What are we doing in here?"

Alex said, "When I joined the DEO, I spent twelve hours a day for five straight months in this room. We need to know that you are ready for anything you might face out there."

"Alex, I can bend steel with my bare hands, and last week I kicked Vartox's butt. Ready enough."

"You really think so?" asked Alex.

"I do--"

Alex punched Kara in the nose, sending her to land on the raised arena in the middle of the room. Vasquez turned up the dial. The lights around the room went green.

Kara struggled to push herself up. "How did you do that?"

"Even surprise can mess with a Kryptonian. For the rest? What you feel now? Kryptonite emitters. They're only at 18%, not enough to harm you, but enough to weaken you, make this a fair fight."

"I just found out last week that kryptonite exists. Only the DEO knows it can hurt me."

They circled each other in the sickly green light. Alex tried to explain. "You have powers, Kara, but so do the Fort Rozz aliens. Not only do they have the element of surprise, but they've also had time to master their abilities. We may not know who our enemies are, so we need to be prepared to face anyone. Now. Come at me."

She put her fists up and she watched Kara get angry and charge. It was too easy to sidestep, turn and shove Kara away. They circled each other again, but when she punched, Kara's wind-up gave Alex plenty of time to catch her arm, turn and throw her to the mat.

"Your wind-up leaves you open for a counterattack," said Alex.

Supergirl pushed herself up, frowning, and Alex knew that her sister's frustration would only make her fight worse. She deliberately turned her back on her, felt the charge, grabbed her arm and used it to flip Supergirl over her shoulder.

Alex's voice was full of emotion. "You are relying on strength without technique. When you are facing a superior opponent, you must use their strength against them."

Supergirl charged a third time, this time grabbing Alex with both hands and crashing her into the wall. But Alex blocked Kara's arms upwards so she couldn't hold on and then, again, took one arm and got it behind Kara's back, smacking her into the wall.

"All right! All right. Enough. You've made your point."

Alex let go of her and backed off. She turned off the kryptonite emitters, and the room lost its green glow.

"Maybe I'm not DEO material after all. I think I know why my cousin prefers to work alone!" She strode off.

Alex approached Vasquez, who was leaning against the wall, hands in pockets, her brows in a slight frown.

Alex said, "I hate that he made me do that."

Vasquez said, "You should probably be thanking him, Alex. You may have just saved your sister's life."


	5. Starting Small, Learning...

Winn Schott, Jr. watched the world. He watched the IT world because that was his sphere, and you had to know what was going on if you were going to get ahead of it. He watched the world of toys on the off chance that someone might steal his father's... less jocular designs to make havoc. He watched the interactions of the employees around him at CatCo mainly because he enjoyed watching humans be their strange selves.

But he watched Kara Danvers because he loved her. He had never put it in those terms to himself, and he promised himself that he never would.

And he watched James Olsen because Winn could see that James was also gradually coming to love Kara. And he put it in those terms to himself, because if he couldn't face it, he would never be able to deal with it, prevent it, fend it off.

So when Kara had muttered, after a bad meeting with Cat, "Meet me in the alley in five minutes," his first instinct was to think to himself, Thank God it's not the roof!

But he never hesitated about meeting her there. The problem occurred when he saw James standing in the alley too.

James said, "Hey, what's... up?"

"Nothing," said Winn. "Nothing. I like to come out here, to... smoke. Which I like to do in private."

'Yeah, actually, I'm meeting someone right now, so--"

"You could meet 'em inside the building..." suggested Winn.

"Yeah, no. My friend likes to make an entrance, so--"

A swooping sound made them both look up but then Supergirl was landing in front of them. The two of them had the exact same reaction, pointing to each other:

"HE KNOWS?"

"James already knew, and Winn's my friend." She strode toward them and stood tall. (Maybe it was the cape, thought Winn). "If I'm going to be a hero and prove to everyone that I know what I'm doing, I'm going to need to practice: start small, get better. And to do that, I'm gonna need your help." She looked at both of them, grinning, as if being yellow sunlight personified was not cheating in the asking-for-help stakes.

Simultaneously, they said, "I'm in!"

And Winn saw the look on James's face, a look Winn knew that he himself shared and he thought that James had never had a chance against Kara's charms.


	6. Baiting a Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The Helgramite really should have seen it coming. Sure, he was one of the lesser threats that had escaped Krypton's prison, but he had been--to use an Earth expression--on the bottom of the totem pole for so long, he really should have recognized that the elite criminals from the elite species would eventually track him down, trap him, threaten him, use him. He should have known that General Astra of Krypton would show no mercy, despite the Kryptonian lip-service to that value."

The Helgramite really should have seen it coming. Sure, he was one of the lesser threats that had escaped Krypton's prison, but he had been--to use an Earth expression--on the bottom of the totem pole for so long, he really should have recognized that the elite criminals from the elite species would eventually track him down, trap him, threaten him, use him. He should have known that General Astra of Krypton would show no mercy, despite the Kryptonian lip-service to that value.

So when he found himself surrounded by Kryptonian soldiers with X-ray beams coming out of their eyes, all he could think to say was, "I don't want any trouble."

He should have expected the response: "Then you should have stayed hidden, under your rock with the rest of the insects."

"I need to eat!"

"General Astra told you she would take care of all your needs on this world. Her only request was your loyalty."

"Tell her I'd rather go it alone."

But that was when the flying women in a navy body suit landed.

The Helgramite begged, "Look, I don't want to have any part of what you're planning."

But the woman said, "As I told you when we first crashed here and escaped, we are stronger together. There's a Kryptonian working with the humans, my niece in fact. She calls herself Supergirl. You will make excellent bait to help me capture her."

For an insect, the Helgramite was brave. He said, "I've seen what happens to people when they take on people wearing that S."

Astra snapped, "This is not an invitation. It's a command."

So the Helgramite slunk off to think about the problem. Somehow he needed to find food, find a way to get at the Kryptonian, and get away from this city. He'd heard Gotham was awash with some really good chemicals. Maybe he should move there when all this was over, assuming he survived...


	7. Proving Size Doesn't Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Growing up, she had forced herself to not use her powers, so they all began to realize that Kara had only an OFF switch, but Supergirl couldn't have only an ON switch. She needed to figure out levels in between: how fast, how strong, how cold, how hot. And over the course of the week, she was beginning to see how starting smaller was teaching her the degrees in between. She was learning moderation and subtlety."

The pizza place was the first, and James's reminder that bullets that might bounce off her could hurt innocent bystanders changed the way she might otherwise have addressed the situation. The leader who barked that she should get down didn't retreat when she got closer to the shotgun he was holding. So when she closed her hand on the end of the barrel, and he shot anyway, he was sent barreling backwards into the wall. The fact that this choice also got the superfriends (as Winn insisted on calling them) a surfeit of pizza was a plus she hoped not to have to take advantage of too much in the future: it felt like corruption.

"Next?"

"There's an ambulance caught in traffic on Carter Avenue carrying a heart attack victim..."

Winn tried to explain to her the math about the mass and volume of the ambulance. James just said, "Kara, what he means is, gently this time."

"Oh," said Winn. "This is the Fire Department. Kara, you're going to love this one. It's a classic: kitten up a tree."

But when Kara floated down to the worried eight-year-old who yelled, "FLUFFY!" Kara could only hand her the five-foot snake, wiping her hands nervously and muttering, "Who names their snake Fluffy?"

She flew home at the end of the day to celebrate with the boys. Winn complimented her on her choice of novels--Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett, a wide variety of science fiction--that he had looked at when they had downtime while she was saving the day. James complimented her on her CD collection--jazz, classical and world music--and teased her about the NSYNC and ABBA. But mostly they debriefed her on her technique. Growing up, she had forced herself to not use her powers, so they all began to realize that Kara had only an OFF switch, but Supergirl couldn't have only an ON switch. She needed to figure out levels in between: how fast, how strong, how cold, how hot. And over the course of the week, she was beginning to see how starting smaller was teaching her the degrees in between. She was learning moderation and subtlety.

The news reported it as follows: "The deeds by the Girl of Steel now has a grateful National City asking, 'What oil slick?' Watch out, Metropolis, it looks like we are going to give you a run for your money!"

Winn started to pack up their high-tech computers and the police and fire scanners, trying to ignore how much James grinned at Kara's excitement.

But she was bouncing around her apartment, still in her supersuit, still grinning and bubbly. "I can't believe it! It's actually working! People are really starting to believe in her!"

"In you!" said James.

But Kara said, "I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you. Both of you."

A knock on the door distracted them. Kara turned, then hurried to answer the knock. Both Winn and James panicked. 

Winn said, "Did you order more pizza? You're a beast?"

But as she got closer to the door, they were falling all over themselves. "Kara, no, Kara, the cape, the cape!"

She opened the door. 

The dark-haired woman asked Supergirl, "Can we talk?"

Supergirl looked back at her guy friends and the message was clear. "Yeah," said Winn. "We'll just be going now..."

But James frowned. "K-- Supergirl, who is this person?"

Alex took a step up to James and even though she was about nine inches shorter than he was, she didn't look the slightest bit intimidated. "I think the more interesting question is who do you think you are?"

Kara and Winn hastily intervened. "My sister! This is Alex, my sister. Alex, this is James. He works with us at CatCo and he has been helping me, with Winn." She gestured to the police scanners.

"I see," said Alex.

Winn looked like they had just narrowly evaded a small, highly specific bloodbath. James looked more confused than anything.

"C'mon, James, help me get this stuff into my car. See you, Kara, Alex." He hurried them out.

Kara made tea. It was suppose to calm British people down. Maybe it didn't work on Americans?

Alex asked, "Do you think it was a good idea to tell your friends who you are?"

"Yes," said Kara, "because they're my friends! I'm allowed to have friends, aren't I? Or is that also against DEO rules?"

Alex said, "I didn't come here to fight. I came her to apologize. For how I handled things back at the DEO. Maybe it wasn't the right way to go about it, but you have got to understand that I am only looking out for you."

She tried to touch Kara's hand, but her sister pulled away. "And you have always looked out for me, since the day my cousin dropped me off at your house."

Alex laughed a little. "You remember how scared you were of the popcorn maker?"

Kara laughed too. "Yeah, you crawled under the table next to me, showed me the melted butter and the tiny white crystals... But I'm not a scared little girl anymore."

"Yeah, but I will always be your big sister. I mean, that doesn't just suddenly change because, what, last week you just decided to fight criminals."

"Well, but last week, I just found out that you don't work in a lab. You're out there fighting, risking your life, and I still trust you." Kara looked away. "I know I have a lot to learn, and James and Winn believe in me, but... I need to know you're with me, Alex. More than that S, more than that cape, more than anyone."

Alex's phone beeped. She picked it up. "Danvers. I'll be right there." She turned back to Kara. "They need me back at the DEO. I'll call you."

Kara nodded, let her go.


	8. Offering Bait, Being Out Maneuvered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She was pissed at her boss for not figuring out what she herself couldn't figure out: how to chase a being who was as fast as their trucks and more flexible than their helicopters.
> 
> How to actually capture the prey once it came to take the bait.
> 
> What to do if the prey wanted to capture bait of its own.
> 
> How not to tear the world apart when the bait it captured was Agent Alex Danvers."

Alex returned to the DEO, anxious. "What's the news on the Helgramite?" she asked Henshaw.

"We've confirmed six similar attacks on plants across the country over the last 

He's been making his way to National City with enough chemical components to make a weapon of mass destruction."

But then Vasquez came in, saying, "I'm not sure about that, sir. The tests we ran on his blood indicate that his DNA isn't carbon-based like humans. It has a chlorine foundation."

Alex frowned. "Each of those facilities stored confiscated DDT, which is a chlorine pesticide."

Henshaw asked, "Well, if he's not building a weapon, what does he need DDT for?"

Alex said, "He's eating it!"

Vasquez said, "Right! Given his own planet's atmospheric conditions, DDT would be the closest thing he could find on Earth to food. Since DDT was banned, the government has been destroying remaining stockpiles, so his food source is shrinking."

"Well. If this thing is hungry," suggested Henshaw, "let's buy him some dinner."

It didn't take long to prep a team for the mission. The DEO agents whom Vasquez and Danvers had trained knew how the world worked, or at least the world that the DEO regularly handled.

Before long they had four vehicles (Trap One through Four) rolling toward the center of the city, three of which were carrying the chemicals.

"Greyhound, this is TRAP One. There is no sign of the hostiles."

"Copy, TRAP One," said Henshaw. "Good work. But stay alert and let's hope this moveable feast is too hard to resist."

As the trucks crossed the bridge, Alex said, "Given the Helgramite's superior sense of smell, he should have sensed the DDT in the atmosphere by now."

"Then where the hell is he?" growled Henshaw. And then there was a difference. Hank started shooting out of his driver's window with his left hand and Alex was shooting out of the passenger side with her right, 

The insectoid fellow perched upon the barrels of DDT shot multiple spikes into the government's black SUV. One landed in Alex's thigh. She screamed, while Henshaw dodged the truck to make them less easy to hit, but then the roof of the vehicle was ripped open, revealing the insect-man, his mouth open wider than any mouth should be able to. Then he reached down and snatched Alex out of her seat, snapping her seatbelt with ease. 

Then they were gone, into the night. Vasquez got on her comm. "Greyhound, this is Trap Two. Orders, sir?"

"Trap Two, this is Greyhound. Return to Base. Repeat, return to base."

And Vasquez ground her teeth. She had recommended adding an air component, but Henshaw had argued that a helicopter could not chase an insect that wasn't strictly able to fly, and she had known he was right. But she drove her vehicle faster than was entirely wise given the urban context.

She was pissed at her boss for not figuring out what she herself couldn't figure out: how to chase a being who was as fast as their trucks and more flexible than their helicopters.

How to actually capture the prey once it came to take the bait.

What to do if the prey wanted to capture bait of its own.

How not to tear the world apart when the bait it captured was Agent Alex Danvers.


	9. Meeting the Family

The Helgramite dragged Agent Alex Danvers into an abandoned warehouse. She lay there on the filthy floor. She had pulled the stinger out of her thigh, but she could feel the poison doing its work in her body, numbing her leg and leaching her of her strength.

A woman's voice asked the Helgramite, "Where is the Kryptonian?"

"She didn't show," he said. "But this is one of the human agents. Hoping it's enough to get you off my back."

He strode away. The woman squatted at Alex's side. It took a moment for Alex to register the familiarity of her face.

Even the voice sounded familiar as she said, "I've been waiting quite some time to get one of you alive." She brushed a finger down Alex's jaw. Alex pulled her face away and glared at the woman. The movement pulled on the stinger stuck deep in her thigh. She reached down and yanked at it, groaning at the pain, reached down with both hands and pulled it out, blood followed but Alex figured it might help get the poison out so she simply lay back gasping.

"You're bleeding," said the woman. "Human beings are so fragile. It's amazing any of you even make it out of infancy."

The voice was so familiar. "Alura!"

"How do you know that name?"

Alex tried to push herself up to sitting. "I saw a hologram of you. It was a message from Krypton. It was on the ship that brought your daughter to Earth."

"Twins were rare on Krypton. When we were children, Alura and I took great pleasure in confusing our parents."

"You're her sister."

"I am General Astra." She smiled down at Alex, who tried to mask her pain and focus on the threat. "And what is your name?"

The numbness in Alex's right thigh was spreading down her leg. She gritted her teeth and glanced around, hoping to find an exit or even a window.

"You are very brave," said Astra. "Braver than most of your race."

"There's no reason to kill me. Or anyone in National City."

"Is that what you think? That my goal is simply to kill humans? You are so very wrong. I am here to save you."

"Supergirl will find me."

"Yes, I suppose she will. And then we will have a lovely little family reunion. And I will have another captain for my army."

"She will never work with you!"

"Haven't you heard, Little Soldier? Blood bonds us all."


	10. Saying What We Do, Doing What We Say

Kara gave Winn her pizza order and watched him leave CatCo. She had seen James standing on the balcony looking sad and she needed to make sure he was okay.

She cleared her throat. "Hey! Winn and I are going to head over to my place to listen to the scanners and do a little superheroing, if you want to come."

"I'm going to take tonight off, if you don't mind. Some things I should think about."

"Look, I know I said I wouldn't do the interview, but I'll do it. I don't want you getting fired."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he said chuckling. "You know, it's been like this for a while. Back when I first started, I was this nervous kid with a camera, just trying to get noticed. Then, one day, everybody knew my name. But not because of anything I had done. Because I was friends with somebody who was making a difference. I don't know. I just thought I could escape all that when I moved to National City. Be my own man, you know?" 

Kara leaned on the ivy-covered wall. "Back on Krypton, no one was their own man. Growing up, I was taught that to accept help from people was not a shame. It was an honor."

James shook his head. "Your cousin never talks about Krypton."

"He was just a baby when he left. But I remember it. All the time." She laughed without humor. "Did he ever tell you what that S means?"

"The House of El."

"Yes, but it also stands for a Kryptonian phrase, our family motto: El Mayarah. It means 'Stronger Together.' You say that people will see me like they see Superman one day, but I don't want to be a hero like him. My cousin, he's so used to going it alone. He doesn't know any other way. But I do. I see it now. You, Winn, my sister, even Ms. Grant: you all showed me that. James, part of being your own man is knowing when to accept help."

James shook his head as if he couldn't compute what she was saying. "You really want to do that interview?"

"Yes. At first I was scared, but I'm not anymore. I want to do it."

"For me?"

"For what we are trying to do here together. For us."

Her phone rang. "Sorry. Hello?"

"It's Henshaw. There's been an incident. Your sister's been abducted."

Kara thought that she had never changed faster, never flown faster, never traversed from urban to desert terrain faster than she did that night. She strode into the DEO, angry and scared. Director Henshaw looked the same as always: unconcerned and calm.

"I should have been there! If I was there, if you trusted me instead of putting me through your tests, I could have stopped this!"

He slowly turned to meet her, saying, "Or you'd be captured and dead too."

"I know to you she's just an agent, but she's my family. Does that mean anything to you? Do you have a family?"

"I did." There was a microsecond when she saw an emotion fleet over his face. Then he said, "Look, we have every satellite and tactical drone up in the air, searching this whole city for her."

"And now you have me too."

She turned away and hurried out of the barracks, into the dry Nevada air and scorched the skies to get back to National City, to scour the airwaves for Alex's heartbeat, for Alex's voice. There were the vibrations of machinery, large and small, 40,000 heartbeats none of which matched Alex's exactly, sirens across the city, and then, suddenly she heard:

"Supergirl will stop you."

"Alex!" said Supergirl. "Director Henshaw, I've got her. A warehouse on 78th and Washington. I'm going to get her back!"

Henshaw shouted, "Ms. Danvers, wait!"

But Kara had a mission and the strength to fulfill it, so she was not listening.

//

Supergirl got to the warehouse in less than minutes, and when she burst through the roof and landed a few feet away from where Alex was lying, groaning in pain but keeping her heart rate composed as she had on the descending plane, Supergirl immediately hurried over. "Alex!"

"Get out of here! It's a trap!"

Suddenly a woman appeared out of nowhere and hit her harder than she had ever been hit. The woman, who looked exactly like her mother except for the shock of white hair, strode toward her confidently, saying, "It's been a long time, Little One. Look how you've grown... So beautiful..."

Supergirl pushed herself off the floor of the warehouse, staring at her adversary in shock. "You died. They all died. When Krypton exploded, everyone died. You died! Aunt Astra..."

The woman walked toward Kara with much more confidence than she would have expected from a ghost. Astra said, "I wasn't on Krypton when it perished. I was a prisoner aboard Fort Rozz. Did your mother never tell you how she sent me away? Banished her own blood for speaking the truth while she told only lies?"

Kara stood flabbergasted. "Why did she send you to Fort Rozz?"

"For being a hero. For trying to save our world."

Kara just couldn't wrap her brain around what she was experiencing. So instead, her mind swept the past for a sign of this side of Astra, but all the memories were good ones. "I remember so many nights, sitting on your lap as you taught me the names of the stars..."

"Then let me educate you once again, my niece. Your alliance with the humans is misplaced. Do not stand against me. I let one planet die. I will not do so again."

"Funny," said Supergirl. "I was going to say the same thing."

Astra smiled, then she smashed Supergirl through three walls. Supergirl pulled herself up from the rubble and sent her X-ray vision across the warehouse to be met by her aunt's X-ray stare. The circled each other, stepping closer to intensify the burn. They could hear Alex on the other side of the warehouse talking on her walkie-talkie. "Greyhound, this is Trap Leader. Over. Greyhound, do you copy?"

And they heard something land near Alex. But their eyes still burned into each other.

"Maybe I was wrong about you," said Astra. "Join me, Little One."

"Never call me that again."

Supergirl rose into the air and shifted her heat vision to a metal beam overhead, sending it down to land on her aunt with a flash of sparks. But Astra threw it off and leapt up to join Supergirl in the air. They traded punches and grappled. Then Astra caught one of Supergirl's arms and punched her in the stomach. Supergirl tried an uppercut, but Astra kicked her away, then came back with multiple kicks and then tackled her down to the floor of the warehouse.

She held Supergirl down with her arm over her niece's throat, growling, "You chose for it to end like this instead of allying with your family. Now you can die alone!"

She pulled them both up to standing and muttered, "You might want to rethink the cape," and she sent Supergirl spinning into another wall.

But Astra was missing some vital information, thought Kara. Because Supergirl was not alone and Supergirl already was allied with her family. So she came flying back like a torpedo and slammed Astra into a pillar of steel so hard they left an enormous dent. But Astra was older, and stronger, and had been a soldier for a long time. She punched Supergirl in the jaw, in the stomach, in the chest, in the head. Supergirl had never felt so much pain. But then she remembered what her sister had said: "When you are facing a superior opponent, use their strength against them."

So the next time Astra charged her she just got out of the way and pushed her from behind do that she slammed into the far wall.

Alex came stumbling out of the dark, and Supergirl grabbed her. "Are you all right?"

A blast of cold air blew them apart, as Astra strolled forward. "I saw on the news you haven't quite mastered that one yet."

Another blast behind her and then Director Henshaw was standing holding a gun on her. He yelled, "Stop! Stay where you are!"

Astra turned, laughing, then supersped to him and picked him up by the throat. "You possess no weapon that can hurt me."

He gasped, "You're so wrong!"

He pulled out a blade that was sickly green and stabbed her in the arm. She shouted, dropped him, looking shocked, then flew up through the roof, leaving more wreckage to fall to the ground.

Hanshaw looked pleased. "Any more family I should know about?"

Supergirl just rolled her eyes, ignoring him. She carried Alex to the DEO truck against her sister's resistance. The other DEO agents looked worried. Supergirl said, "What happened to your leg? That looks horrible."

"The Helgramite lent me one of his stingers earlier."

"But that looks deep. You shouldn't even be able to walk! About the only thing that can reverse the Helgramite's poison is, oh, bother, I can't think of the English word. It's like when you get scared or angry?"

"Adrenaline?" said Alex. "Well, that explains that. He came back for more, telling me that it 'wasn't personal.' Why do they always say that? Since when is it ever personal? He also said it was just that every species had a will to survive. So I said, 'You know what else most species have?' And I kicked him in the nuts."

The other DEO agents laughed. Yeah, Agent Danvers was a badass.

But Supergirl frowned. "Really? I wouldn't have thought that a whole lot of species would have repeated the evolutionary mistake of putting sexual organs outside the body where they could easily be damaged--"

Alex patted her on the thigh. "You would be surprised. I'll get Vasquez to print out the list. It's surprisingly extensive. Might prove useful to you at some point."

"I'd like that!"

"She'll want to debrief you while I go see the medic."

At the DEO, another agent let Alex lean on him and they made their way to medical while Supergirl reported to Vasquez's office. Vasquez asked her to write out a quick summary of the mission and asked her to come in the next day to talk about Astra.

Supergirl frowned sadly. "I think I didn't really know her at all. She was just my aunt. I never knew that other side of her."

"Well, sleep on it and come in anyway. It sounds like she's got some sort of Big Nefarious Plan™ for Earth. We'll need all the information we can get."

"Um, speaking of information, Alex said you had a list you could give me about which aliens, uh, have easily accessible, er, weaknesses."

Vasquez looked blank and then laughed. "The Nuts and Bolts list. Yeah, I can have that for you when you come in tomorrow. Meanwhile, if you can make your sister rest while she heals, we'll all be grateful."

By the time Supergirl got down to medical, Alex had been washed and bandaged up and had changed into clean, untorn tactical pants. The medic gave her an icepack for the swelling and said, "Stay off of it. I know you won't but at least try. Keep it elevated. No missions for two days."

He left and Supergirl came in.

Alex said, "I wish I had your healing powers."

"You took down that Helgramite with no help from me."

"Well, you were a little busy. I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now. I mean, after all this time, finding out you still have family."

Supergirl shook her head. "You're my family. My aunt, we have to stop her. I have to be ready for next time. Show me how to fight? Train me to be as good as you."

"I'll make you even better."

Kara scooped her cape out of the way and sat next to Alex on the exam table. "You know on Krypton, I remember my mother and Aunt Astra always arguing."

"Like sisters do."

"And when I asked my mother why they couldn't get along, she said it was because Astra didn't have faith in people."

Alex smiled. "You wanted to know if I have faith in you. I do. I always have. When you first came to live with us, my parents said you would be sad and fragile, having just lost your world, your parents, your friends. But you never let that loss diminish your light. You always had the heart of a hero, Kara, way before you put on that S."

"Can I ask a stupid question?"

"There are no stupid questions."

"I heard you calling for help. Why did you call yourself trap leader? You were Astra's bait."

"It's an acronym for Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel."

"I just have so much to learn. Where am I even going to start?"

Alex grabbed her icepack and hopped down from the table.

"Alex, no. You have to rest."

"I will, but first, there's something I need to show you. Something I've been working on."

Alex led her limping through the DEO's cavernous corridors. She explained, "Your cousin has a base. It's a fortress, I guess, in the Arctic. We don't know much about it but we do know that it's a place where he's been able to commune with his Kryptonian ancestors."

"How? They're all gone."

"They're no longer alive, yes..." She gestured to the sensor panel with a handprint on it. "The door will only open for you."

Supergirl reached out and placed her hand on the lit-up print. The double doors slid open to a blue room, with a large dias blazoned with the S crest all in blue, just like her mother used to wear... And there in front of her was Alura Zor-El. She couldn't help it. She smiled.

The woman smiled back. It had to be a hologram, and yet... "Mom," Supergirl whispered.

Alura smiled back. "Hello, Kara."

"But wait," said Supergirl, turning back to Alex. "I don't understand..."

Alex said, "The message we found in your pod, it was part of an interactive artificial intelligence program culled from living memory. It's not really her, but..."

Supergirl nodded.

Alura said, "Kara, I've been programmed to offer you assistance here on Earth."

Supergirl turned back to Alex again, finding it hard to speak. "I, thank you, Alex."

"I'll let you two talk." She limped out quietly.

Supergirl turned back to the image of her mother. "I, I'm not sure what to ask."

"Whatever you wish you could ask Alura, you may ask me."

Kara's voice was thick with tears. "I'd ask for a hug."

"I am not programmed to do that."

Supergirl nodded, pulled herself together. Her voice low, she said, "Then tell me about my Aunt Astra."

And the story was long and complicated, because families always are, even when they are not part of the ruling elite, even when that ruling elite is not facing the imminent destruction of their planet, even when those family members don't disagree about ways to solve the planet's dire problems.

And when Supergirl realized just how long and complicated the story was going to be, she asked Alura to pause, and she went back to the command center, where Agent Vasquez was reading agent reports.

"Ma'am? Can I help you, Supergirl?"

"Agent Vasquez, there is a story you need to hear. And you're going to want to take notes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to know where to cut episodes that run together. This seems to work for now.


End file.
